DAILY BIBLE READING
Aug 9: Jer 7-9
Aug 10: Jer 10-13
Aug 11: Jer 14-17
Aug 12: Jer 18-22
Aug 13: Jer 23-25
Aug 14: Jer 26-29
Aug 15: Jer 30-31
Aug 16: Jer 32-34
NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S READINGS
· Jeremiah prophesied during the “Babylonian crisis.” We have read much about the “Assyrian crisis” of the 8th century B.C. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. The southern kingdom of Judah was severely threatened, and saved only by a divine intervention under King Hezekiah. A century and a half later, in the early 6th century B.C., Judah was heading toward exile. Jerusalem would fall in 587 B.C. Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied before and after that momentous event.
· Jeremiah is almost a mini-Bible in terms of varieties of literature – autobiography, history, sermon, poem, messages to individuals and nations, and more. The outline is hard to discern – it’s almost like a scrapbook of Jeremiah’s experiences and writings.
· Jeremiah had a difficult life. He was born into obscurity and didn’t think he was qualified to speak for God. He was rejected by his hometown and repeatedly persecuted for his message. He was threatened repeatedly and only recorded two people who believed his message and turned.
· He’s called the “weeping prophet,” and you’ll run across times where he wept. But he was also tough, bold, and resilient in living out his calling.
· I have found all through Jeremiah those memorable one-liners of both judgment and hope. Don’t miss them! Among those you’ll read this week are 9:23-24 (“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom….”) and 29:11 (“I know the plans I have for you….”) There’s much in Jeremiah’s writing that applies to A. D. 2010.
DEVOTIONS
Almost every parent knows what it’s like to go through a time when your children disappoint you. Jeremiah transfers that deep emotion to God, thinking about his people.
The book of Jeremiah is filled with the Lord’s strong condemnation of the people of Judah leading up to the final fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. One example of many: “No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle” (Jeremiah 8:6).
But I love how Jeremiah 31:20 reflects the father whose love will not let go of “the child in whom I delight.” Jeremiah reflects God’s heart when he says, “Though I often speak against him, I will remember him….my heart yearns for him…I have great compassion for him.”
This past weekend Linda and I spent time with dozens of Christians who are part of mainline churches – United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Presbyterian Church USA, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran, American Baptist, and more. There were also members of Pentecostal and evangelical denominations.
Those of us who were there consider ourselves “ECOT” (evangelical, conservative, orthodox, or traditional), and our denominations definitely do not fit that description. The American way (actually the way of Protestantism) is to choose irreversible separation when you disagree, especially when the disagreement is over important issues.
But that’s not the heart of our ECOT friends (see my blog on “Mainline Call”) and I don’t believe it’s the heart of God. “My heart yearns for him,” God says of his wayward child. “I may not like what he does, but I can’t stop loving him.” The Lord won’t release Linda and me from this calling to invest ourselves in his church.
Set aside the issue of church separation. Who in your life have you been trying to “forget”? Who has disappointed you so much that you have chosen distance? Keep your heart open – the same heart that kept your Father’s arms open to you.